Free jazz outlaw JoAnne Pow!ers plays frequently in
the Madison Area both as a solo act and with her trio
(The aptly-named JoAnne Pow!ers Trio). Pow!ers also
makes occasional appearances in the [sometimes
literally] underground music scenes of New York,
Chicago, and San Francisco. Her frenetic saxophone
abuse is often compared to that of Albert Ayler and
Peter Brötzmann, with further influences from
late-period John Coltrane and legendary Japanese
free-improviser Kaoru Abe. With a tone that has been
known to alternately peel the paint off of walls and
lull angry babies to sleep, Pow!ers is known for her
lightning-fast keywork, and heavy use of multiphonics
and other extended techniques. While largely operating
within the "Energy music" school of improvisation,
Pow!ers' music also incorporates elements of the music
of the Middle East and India. In addition to her trios, Pow!ers'
collaborators have included New York percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani; Dave Rempis (saxophones), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Tim Daisy (percussion),
Jaimie Branch (trumpet) and Marc Riordan (percussion) of Chicago's thriving improvised music
scene; extreme vocalist D.B. Pedersen, and the late multi-instrumentalist
Lyx Ish.